|
 |
|
| | Title:
Far Cry Instincts
..............................................
System:
Xbox
..............................................
Genre:
First Person Shooter
..............................................
Publisher:
Ubisoft
..............................................
Developer:
Ubisoft
..............................................
Release:
9/27/2005
..............................................
Online:
Yes
..............................................
ESRB:
Rating Pending (RP)
..............................................
 |
Captured, tied to a chair, experimented on, and mysteriously released, Jack Carver isn’t having a very good day. In Farcry Instincts, players follow through on a story involving a routine charter, where boat-owner Jack Carver is showing a journalist around some war-era sea-wreckage, which passes by a nearby island and gets shot to bits by militia helicopters patrolling the area. Carver’s passenger is taken captive while the aforementioned happens to him. After getting out of the dank room and escaping into the jungle, he finds that there is more to the occurrence of him being there than first meets the eye. Especially when he receives help from an unlikely ally, and finds himself pitted against an island full of the mysterious and relentless militia.
Bringing the gold to the big black & green machine
Farcry is an award winning PC title that met to a warm welcoming of praises and salutes to it’s aim for trying to revolutionize what seems like a genre that is fading in the abundance of innovation. Yes, there was Half-Life 2, Halo 2, and the graphical showcasing of Doom 3, but each of those titles represented something different towards the look, feel, and playability of the FPS category. Not to mention, each of them are ports from PC to the Xbox, retaining more or (far) less the same amount of content. But there are far more titles in between that leave less of a memorable taste in the mouths of gamers. Farcry Instincts is now slated for release on the big black box, and it’s bringing with it everything that made it a hit on the PC.
Mercenaries wading in the water
The visual look of Farcry will be the first and foremost thing to catch the attention of most gamers. It’s not in a dingy future; a rundown urban jungle; a sweltering desert town; a moss ridden, aqueduct looking alien spaceship with a gumdrop palette, or an underground mining factory in claustrophobic compartments filled with mutant aliens from Hell. No, this time it takes place in an open, idyllic placid island-scape. Serious Sam gamers will feel right at home. The graphics aren’t too shabby either. As a matter of fact, the water is some of the best rendered water featured in an Xbox game to-date. It actually reflects the surrounding 3D environment atop its calm surface. The animations and details in the model files are also rendered nicely, with most mercenaries actually having distinguishable personalities to match their look. Added to that, the re-addition to swimming in an FPS is also done nicely with a great underwater feel, once you breach the surface and then go deep sea diving. The sounds and reflective imagery are spot-on. Ubisoft and Crytek really wanted players to feel surrounded by an island type immersion, and I think it worked out quite well.
A predator for all seasons
The greater distinction a game like Farcry varies in it’s comparison to say, a game like Halo, is that Farcry distinguishes the player as an instinctive prey, using stealth and cunning for finding means to being the predator. Where-is a game like Halo benefits the player with having abilities and functions that always put them in a position to carry out the likes of being the predator. For instance, in Farcry ammo is not a standard issued item whenever you run low or think you need to re-stock. All you get is what you can get. Literally players must acquire items and useful tools only from what is provided from the militia’s stash; and in some cases, that isn’t much. As all you will start with is your trusty knife. Essentially you must use some well-wrought stealth to surpass the simple routine of not being caught, but to actually dispatch an enemy and retrieve his firearm or ammo, without him being alerted by your presence and radioing for backup (yes they do that, a lot). Thankfully Ubisoft and Crytek thought of the huge disadvantage of being an unhewn killing machine with just a knife, at that, a small knife. Compensating for this rather ineffective weapon for taking out multiple enemies, while you are still unforeseen by there somewhat relentless forces, is the ability to set and arm booby-traps. I’m not talking about rat-traps either. Full fledged spike-ridden, sharp-ended, stiff tree branches. Doesn’t seem like much eh? Well at about 3 feet long and wrapped around the base of an unsuspecting tree, this deadly little contraption is an extremely effective death-trap. It’s triggered by any kind of contact, and what better way to trigger this inert tree-branch of mortality, than by throwing a rock at the face of a nearby guard using the L-trigger, just so he can say “What the...” (You can finish the rest with your imagination) and prance on over to where he might think you threw the rock from; only to see from your bush covered position on the ground, just behind a slight dirt mound, the sling fly from around the corner of the tree, extending the tree branch out full length with it’s foot long spikes, digging gingerly into the fleshy belly of the guard whose life ends with a gasp that gets cut short when his body is flung back from the massive force of impact. It’s a sight to behold; and quite easy to make rather good use of if any trees are nearby. Using the black button, players can select the tree branch from the traps menu that appears at the bottom of the screen; by simply tapping the R-trigger several times to prime the trap, or pull the tree branch back around the tree to which it is connected--and presto--you know have a tree-branch killing trap. This is all done rather amiably with the transparent menu screen to select and prime traps with ease. Better yet, these nasty little traps can also be setup to work against fellow on-line competitors in the multiplayer Live mode.
Who stole my jet-ski? Now I’m going to have to go get my speed-boat
I tried shooting the three militia standing on the docks; looking in their direction and shooting aimlessly with the MP10, rendered results less fortunate on my behalf. I must admit though, I’m a terrible shot when it comes to picking off foes in a fast and furious drive-by. That’s right, a trump on other FPS competitors, is that in this game you can drive and shoot, or shoot and drive at the same time. I’m not going to lie about the required skills a gamer will need to be good at doing both (because you will need some serious skills.) But the huge plus side to the vehicles, which very few other games offer in a free-roaming environment aside from GTA and Halo, would be the ability to have multiple players pile up in the vehicles; shooting from different positions or utilizing the on-board weaponry of some vehicles. This adds a definite replayable aspect to the multiplayer features.
The vehicle assortment ranges from hummers, 4x4's, boats, a jet-ski and even a hand-glider. Seven in all and fun to dispose with at the player’s whim. The environments allow for all the vehicles to traverse across the multi-various forms of terrain up until their full physical capabilities can bring them no further. Ailing no player with the task of simply getting stuck, is the ability (like in Halo) to knock or move vehicles out of motionless positions they would otherwise stay stuck in. So don’t be surprised to see a speed boat parked neatly next to a patched encircling of trees, as the owner would hope to mask it’s appearance from potential usurpers. Only that he may return, quickly knock it from behind the trees and into the water; speeding away like a madman in...er...a speedboat.
What about all them guns and the crazy people who carry them?
I’ll tell you about the guns featured in Farcry, or rather, the weaponry. Unlike other shooter titles out there, Farcry Instincts gives players the standard potpourri of knives, stock and silenced pistols, sub-machine guns, assault rifles, rocket launchers, grenades, mines and a couple of other high-tech goodies; sixteen in all. Players can also use two guns at once so long as they pick-up another of the exact same kind. The real meat and potatoes would probably come in with the abilities players will employ with the Evolution system. Oh yes, what’s a good shooter without a good gimmick? Instead of being vehicles, A.I., stealth, free environments, large weapon caches or over-the-top bosses, (all of which this game does feature) Farcry’s major originality is sparkled with the features of playing an enhanced character with predatorial advantages. At first I thought it was just a typical speed boost, health regeneration, jump enhancement and doubled-up melee damage. Well, it does feature all of those nifty-tidbits, but it also includes some scarily good programming skills that allow you to “hunt” and dispose of your prey in a true, predator-like fashion.
The strength allows you to plow through your enemies with ease, using melee attacks to launch or blast your foes far off and away from you. For those who think that seems a bit ridiculous, it’s actually quite entertaining to watch in effect. But that is just the beginning; with the strength ability, players are also able to break through certain objects or blocked pathways that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to gain access to. You can also pick up and use stationary weapons, like turret guns. So for all those out there who thought that M60 machine gun, stationed in the midst of those sandbags, would be a much more useful weapon if only they could take it with them, now have been given that ability.
To hunt, or not to hunt? That is the question
Aside from the strength and speed increase, etc.; there is a very fascinating aspect to the whole predator mode: The ability to track the enemy by scent. Weird huh? (No you cannot smell them coming out of your television.) It’s a feature that exemplifies itself best in a multiplayer mode made specifically for those keen on being a Predator, and here’s how it works: The player who is the “Predator” must track down and kill off the other players before they reach a certain point in the map to activate a transmitter. The scent tracker basically is a phosphorous looking trail emitted by the other players (i.e., or in single player mode, other computer opponents,) which is left behind so the Predator has an idea of where they were. Hide and Seek has a whole new meaning in a mode like that. Rendering only those who work well as a team, the fittest to survive. Don’t worry though, for those too timid to play on-line, these abilities are still available in the single player mode, it’s just annexed to the actual story, so it makes more sense.
Pass it here, I promise I won’t drop it, really!
Another shine-worthy mode in the multiplayer category would have to be the tag-team versus capture-the-flag overhaul. It’s called Steal the Sample, and up to sixteen players are pitted against one another on two different teams battling to steal and recover a data sample from the opposing team. Something Ubisoft has taken and enhanced from Splinter Cell’s Chaos Theory. Well unlike traditional capture-the-flag, players are given the ability, and encouraged, to pass the sample, when faced with immediate and unavoidable peril (Spectators aught to get a real kick out of just viewing a match like this in progress.) Say you’re being flogged with gunfire from all sides while you have possession of the sample; you run to the clearing to see two of your well-armed teammates speeding by, heading in the direction of your base. But there is a river impeding your escape. Unlike other CTF games where you’d just try and have to survive and get back to your base, while your teammates try and provide for you cover fire; here you can just toss it to the guy or gal sitting on the back of that speedy little jet-ski. This way you watch them whizz on by with the sample, while hordes of the opposing team hail down upon you a wrath of bullets no human being could possibly count. Cool huh?
All the standard fair
Farcry's attributes are quite impressive, with: Stealth, vehicles, the re-addition of swimming to FPS games, a commendably decent A.I., and the entire standard fair (with a couple of extras) for the multiplayer modes: Chaos (Deathmatch) and Team Chaos (Team DM), STS, and Predator. There is even a map creator provided with the game, so whether you are doing four-player split-screen deathmatch or playing with sixteen other players on-line in a game of Predator, you can now create and share your maps with friends and foes alike. Hence, it looks like Farcry Instincts is shaping up to be the next big thing in revolutionary FPS gaming, on-line and off. Anyone who strikes a fancy to the likes of this game won’t have to wait too long though, as it hit shelves September 27, 2005 for the Xbox.
|
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
 |
